Rail-bond.



H. MILLIKEN.

RAIL BOND.

APPLICATION rxmm FEB. 15. 1910 Patented Nov. 21, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

e 77E B H. MILLIKEN.

RAIL BOND.

APPLIUATION FILED FEB. 15, 1910.

Patented Nov. 21, 1911.

WITNE 5.-

J "VENTUR:

"s emuinn time" time.

Patented Nov. e1, 1911.

a plication fled mini 13,1010. eat-n1 mfmau.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Reunite-multilinmm a eitizen'of'the'United sttltes tesitliti at .\e\v Yorlqin the eoutitytit New 'or and State of New York,"hitve lnvented or a discovered c'ertitin ntiw'a'nd useful Itnp'rmellltlllll-l ln Rail-Bonds. 'of wltieh the followi ing is a specification. reference being had i therein to the MCOIH rallying drawings. i

This invention re utes to bonds for elect trieuliy connecting the r nils'o'f electric rail- 1 ways, and has for its object to provide tt 3 bond which may be made at a minimum 1 cost. which may be eot'tvenlclttly,soldered lo the rails, untlwhieh is of such construction 'as to avoid being iniured by worn wheels andfwhich will permit of a free. llow of the electric current.

To this end the improved bond i.- iundtflat or t-ontpurutivt-l thin throughout. and comprises a thin or llat body which in pra tically of the t-iitlllt! width its the tt't'tttllutls I of the bond.

'lhe. improved bond. in its preferred to: Ill- 1 cou|pri es a series of loo icdetrand ol' roppvt wire made by winding the wire upon a i former or mandrel, and then llnlteuing: tngtllut' tlu' t-onvolutions of wire thua formed; but it may consist of sheet copper bent int i proper shape and solid in the tet'tnlnnln ol' the bond. but t-losely allllt'tl in the body Nilti n of the bond; or, for greater lh-xibi ily, the bond may L'Ullalil of several lbitt ltlytl'n of Hlltt'l copper, fol'ltn-tl, as just above te- [erred to and soldered together at the terlllllllllS ot the bond.

in the aeeolupnnying drawings Fi ure 1 is n perspective view of u tit'eferret form of the ill! troved bond as it will appear when linnl y secured in place on the rails. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the some no it will be preferably made, for convenience, for being soldered to the rttlht. Fig. 3 it! ll detail aeetion on line 3-3, Fig. 1, through the lertninal of the bond. "lg. -l is a perspective view showing the lttrttl ill the form in which it up )(lll'N to Fig. :1 and showing a convenient ortu of clamp which the bond only be held to the rail when being FUltlt'l'Utl.

ltet'trring lo the drawings. 1-. denotes the llat bod) l' 'rtion of the itntn'ovt-d bond. Ilml lit the tt-ruiinabor end ltnt'llttlln thereof.

The improved bond. in its m form-d form, ('UIIIIJI'lH'H tltl turns or convoluliuns, nothing i i i l i may be varied as nihy be quire-cl eross ectionttlmid tern iintil dimenthe iutittber of titru'nds arms-im lo ed bond 0'! the Size ofitlte wire coiit iriein' the Barrie I desires. 'fiat teinn the turns or *convoluti'onebf the wire tog-ther such ednvolntions are doubled or loo ted at the terminitl portions ofthe bond, ant to tn'event thcme'piu'a'tion of the wires composing the bond, while being soldered at the termiuals. 'the doubled or looped portiom thereof are preferably held together b means of strips ]-l of sheet (701))8! or sheet tin passed through the icons on folded over ntritlltst the For-es of the looped wires at or adjatent to the terminitls; or the looped wires now he held together by wires i paswd .aron'nd t te bodies of the bonds and stitched or joined at frequent intervals by liiawit-es passing between the strands of the bonds. The said looped Wires are then mhlt'ted together at the terminals, to 'co'nillll'll. the bond.

To provide t'or t-onveniently attaching the improved bonds to the tails, by soldering or brazing. the terminals of the bonds are pref erablv bent. at right angles, or approximately .4. to tln bodies of the bonds, as .-hown in Fig. 2: so that when a bond is lumped to the sides of tlte "bulls of coin tlgtlml or ndjaeent ruiL-i, as shown in Fig. 4, for s tl lntllttt. n eoolin brush may be t-ettd il v applied beneath t it: terminals of the bonds, and may be mulily shifted or slid from one terminal to the other. In soldering bonds to tulle it is usual to apply at lint brush wet with water beneath the terminals being soldered. to solidify the melted solder poured onto the terminal and n'event the stone from running down ttllt} he ng wasted; but in some forms of bonds teretofore general! in use. it loot been ditlleolt, owing to the utttm of the bonds, to insert. the cooling brtmheein the tll'ell'ttl positions beneath the tertnitntla. and it has been impossible in most or all forum of bonds heretofore in use to ctutveltienlly slide or shift the eouliu brush from one terminal to the other w tett the bonds are being hllltlt-tt'tl in place; and this objection to the convenient nttitehtnent of the bonds to the rails is avoided in the present improved construction wherein the bond-t, when being h l l 'l'l'tl to the rails, have use, owing to their greater radiating sur their body portions extended out horizontally, as shown in Fi s. 2 and 4, but whicl. body portions are su sequently bent down vertically as shown in Pig. 1.

Owing to the comparatively thin and flat terminals afforded by the present improved bond, and which flat terminals'thus lie much more closely to the bodies of the rails than the terminals of the bonds heretofore generally in use, the chances that said terminals will be struck or injured by worn wheels are reduced to a minimum. Also the improved bonds, made in the manner above described, and having flat bodies which are practically of the same cross sectional area as the terminals of the bonds, require less copper in their construction for conducting a given amount of current than the bonds heretofore generally in use, by reason of the fact that the material is more economically distributed and the maximum cross sectional area is maintained throughout. Thesebonds are also adapted to carry more current, with the same rise in temperature, than the bonds heretofore generally in faces. Also these flat bonds have a greater range of flexibility than the types of bonds heretofore generally in use, and are less likely to become loosened from the rails owing to the shearing stress due to unequal expansion of copper and steel, this flexibility being due, as will be understood, to the fact that the terminals of the bonds, in their preferred form, are composed of small wires, instead of being solid as in the bonds heretofore generally in use. Moreover the form of the present improved fiat bond makes the use of a. bond shield, consisting of sheet iron secured under the heads oft the traek bolt re prac icable than with 5 claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 4a 1. A rail bond consisting of thin, flat,

flexible terminals and a relatively thin and substantially flat body portion of substan tially the same widthand thickness as the horizontal cross section of said terminals.

2. A. rail bond consisting of thin, fiat, terminals adapted for attachment to the ball of a rail, and alaterally flexible, relatively thin and substantially flat body portion connecting said terminals and normally depending therefrom.

3. A rail bond consisting of terminals composed of a series of vertically arranged strands of wire adapted for attachment. to the side of the ball of a rail and a body portion comprising depending eontinuations of said strands, said strands being continuous between said terminals.

4. A rail bond consisting of thin flat terminals and a relatively thin and approximately flat body portion of substantially the same width as the terminals, said bond being composed of a series of strands of wire doubled on themselves at the terminals of the bonds, combined with strips of sheet metal passing through the looped portions of said wires and folded :1; dust the faces of the bonds, thereby sen ingto hold the looped wire strands together at said terminals.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HUMPHREYS MlLLl KEN.

VVitnes-ses:

LILLIAN J. RIDDLE, ALBERT E. Honn. 

